Police Storm Castle After Group of Bearded Swedish Men Are Mistaken for ISIS

The "Bearded Villains" really aren't that villainous.

Image via The Independent

Surely a group that calls themselves the "Bearded Villains" are familiar with a little trouble. But even with beards this outlandish, they probably weren't expecting to be confused for international terrorists when they met for a group photo last Saturday in Sweden.

The Swedish chapter of American beard-lovers club were meeting at the ruins of castle Braehus, planning a photoshoot with the society's banner—a black and white flag with crossed swords, surrounded by text. Unfortunately, passerby on the highway saw the flag and mistook the meeting at the ruins as an ISIS gathering, calling the police as a result. Within an hour the anti-terror police arrived on the scene.

Andreas Fransson, a Bearded Villains member, told The Independent, "The police saw of course that we weren't terrorists, just very happy and nice bearded gentlemen." He continued, "We had a laugh with the police and they left. It was a surreal experience."

 

 

When asked about their flag's similarities to ISIS', co-leader of the Swedish Bearded Villains chapter John Ekeblad said that while he could see the resemblance, "it was so unreal" that they were raided by the police.

Considering that an ISIS member was recently called out as Drake's doppelganger, it's safe to say that the mix up works the other way around.

 

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